The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-06-16


TO perish; she il going down. Oh, how many
good people are Rifrghtnel Nv the iniauity
In our day, and think the Church OF Jesus
Christ is sf,ng 70 be oyerthrown, and just as
much affiighteied DIS were thediscipes of my
text, Don't worry, don't fret, as though in
iquity were going TO triumph over righteous
hess
A lion goes into cavern to sleep. He lies
down, with his shaggy name covering the
paws, Meanwhile the spiders spin web
across the mouth OF the cavern, ind say
1--WE have Captured HIM possan,er thread
after gossamer thread is spun until the whole
front OF the cavern is covered with the spi-
<ers web. and the spiders saw "rha lion u
done; tne lion Is rast." After awhile the hon
has got through sleeping he iouses himself,
he shakes his inane, no walks out into thesun-
light; ho does not even know tho spiders web
Is spun, and with his voice he shakes the
mountain.
skepticism about Jesus Christ; He seems TO
he sleeping, They say; 1--WE have captured
the Lord; Hc will never come forth again
upon the nation, Christ Is captured forever
His religion will never niahe any conquest
among men, But af.er a while tho Lion of
the Tribe of Judah will rouse Himself and
come forth to shaSo nightly the nations,
What Is the spiders web to the aroused liont
Give truth and error fair grapplei and truth
will come on victor,
But there are great many good people
who get affrightened in other respects they
are aifrightened in our day about revivals.
They say: "Ohl this is a strong religious gale;
we are afraid the Church of God is going to
be upset. and there are going TO be d great
many people brought into the church that
are going TO be of no use to it," and they are
affrightened whenever they see revival
taking hold Of the churches.
As though q ship captain with five thou
sand bushels of wheat for cargo should say,
some day, coming upon deck; "Throw over
beard oil cargo" and the sailors should say:
why, captain, what do you mean. Throw
over all the cargoi ''Oh,n says the captain,
1--WE have peck Of chaff that has got into
this five thousand bushels Of wheat, and the
only way to get rid of the chaff is to throw
oil the wheat overheard" Now, that is
great deal wiser than the talk of great
many Christians who want to throw over
board all the thousands and tens of thousands
of souls who are the subjects Of revivals,
Throw all overheard because they are brought
into the kingdom of God through great re-
vivals, because there is peck of chaif, pint
of chatf! say, lot them stay until the Last
Day; the Lord will divide the chaf front tho
wheat.
Do not be afraid of great revival.
Oh, that these gales from heaven might
sweep through all our churches! Oh, for
such days as Richard Baxter saw in Kidder-
minister and Robert McCheyne saw in Dundeel
Oh, for such days as Jonathan Edwards saw
in Northampton | have often heard my
father tell of the fact that in the early part
Of this century revival broke out at Somer-
rllle ~ j., and some people were very much
agitated about it. They said ''Oh you are
going to bring too many people into the
church at once and they sent down to New
Brunswick to get John Livingston to stop the
revival.
Well, there was no better soul in all the
world than John Livingston. He went and
looked at the revival; they wanted him to
stop it. He stood in the pulpit ON the Sab
bath, atid looked over the solemn auditory,
and he said: This, brethren, is in reality the
work of God; beware how you try to stop it.
And he was an old man, leaning heavily on
his staf-a very old man. And he lifted that
staff, and took hold of the end of that staff,
and began to let it fall very slowly through,
between the finger and the thumb, and he
said: 'Oh, thou impenitent, thou art falling
now-falling away from life, falling away
from peace and heaven, falling as certainly
rs that cane is falling through my hand-fall-
ing certainly, though perhaps falling slow
ly.n And the cane kept on falling through
John Livingstons hand. The religious emo
in the audience was overpowering, and men
saw type of their doom, as the cane kept
falling and falling, until the knob Of
the cane struck Mr. Livingston's hand, and he
clasped it stoutly and said: "But the grace of
God can stop you, as | stopped that cane;n
and then there was gladness all through the
house at the fact of pardon and peace and
salvation. "Well, said the people after the
service, 81 guess you had better send Livings-
ton home; he is making the revival worse"
Oh, for the gales from heaven, and Christ on
board the ship! The danger of the Church of
God is not in revivals.
Again my subject impresses me with the
fact that Jesus was God and man in the same
being. Here He is in the back part of the
boat. Oh, how tired He looks what sad
dreams he must have. Look at his counte-
nance; He must be thinking of the cross to
come. Look at Him. He is a man--bone of
our bone, flesh of our flesh. Tired, He fails
asleep; He is man. But then l find Christ
at the prov of the boat; hear him say:
Peace, be STILL" and see the storm kneel-
ing at His feet, and the tempests folding their
wings in His presence; He is God.
1t have sorrow and trouble, and want
sympathy, go and kneel down at the back
part of the boat, and say: 80, Christ, weary
one of Gennesaret, sympathize with all my
| sorrows, man of Nazareth, man of the cross. II
A man, man. But if l want to conquer my
spiritual foes, if want to get the victory
over sin, death and hell, come to the front
Of the boat and l kneel down, and / say:
80, Lord Jesus Christ, Thou who dost hush
the tempest, hush all my grief, hush
all my temptation, hush all my SIM" man.
man; a God, God.
learn once more from this .ub;ect that
Christ can hush 4 temp st.
It did seem as il everything must go to
ruin. The disciples had given up the idea Of
managing the ship the crew were entirely
demoralized; yet Christ rises and He puts
His foot on the storm, and it crouches at His
feet. Oh yesl Christ can hush the tempest.
You have had tronble. Perhaps it was tho
| little child taken away from you-the sweet
est child of the household, the one who asked
| the most curious questions and stood around
| you with the greatest fondness, and the spade
cut down through your bleeding heart. Per-
| haps it was an only son, and your heart has
ever since been like the desolated castle, the
owls of the night hooting among the falling
arches and the crumbing stairways.
Perhaps it was an aged mother. You
always went to her with your troubles. She
| was in your home to welcome your children
into life, and when they died she was there to
| pity you; that old hand will do you no more
kindness; that white lock of hair you put
away in the locket didn't look as it usually
did when she brushed it away from her
| w-rinkled brow in the home circle or in the
country church Or your property gone,
| you said: II have so much bank stock, I
have so many Government securities, have
so many houses, have SO many farns'-al
gone, all gone.
Why, sir, all the storms that ever trampled
their thunders, all the shipwrecks have not
been worse than this to you Yet You
| have not been completely overthrown. Why
| Christ hushed the tempest. Your little ono
was taken away. Christ says: Il have that
little one in my keeping. | can care for him
as well as you can, better than you can,
bereaved mother !" flushing the tempest
| When your property went away God said
"There are treasures in heaven, in banks that
never break" Jesus hushing the tempest.
There is one storm into which we will all
have to run. The moment when we let go of
this life, and try to take hold of the next. we
will want all the grace possible. londer l
see Christian soul rocking on the surges OF
death; all the powers of darkness seem to let
| out against the soul-the swirling wave, the
| thunder of the sky the shrek of tho wind
| all seem to unite together; but that soul Is
| not troubled there is no signing, there are nc
tears; plenty of tears in the room at the de
parture, but he weeps no tears; calm, salts
fed, peaceful; all is well. By the flash of The
storm YOU see the harbor just ahead, and YOU
are making for that harbor. All shall b;
well, Jesus hushing the tempest.
I" Into the harbor Of heaven now we glide;